"Archer. What has Korlon found?" Taan tapped his fingers along the leather seat he'd been offered by the craft's pilot when they'd come aboard heading for Galantyne.

Archer folded his arms over his chest and reached inward for the telepathy he shared with his son. "My liege would know your status." His words were close and clipped as the sea interfered with his ability to receive communications. He waited and felt nothing. They were too far.

Taan understood. "I have something I would like for you to do." He steepled his fingers over his chest.

One dark blonde sculpted eyebrow rose in query and Taan grimaced as he decided to explain his request further. "I need you to go to Etrusia."

Archer closed his eyes, leaning back. Etrusia...

He pictured the dark gray metallic structures of the palace,  its bars an indication of the degradation it had suffered. Even before the exile, Etrusia had been a place of fear and suspicion. The rich were too rich, the poor too poor. An elitist regime had taken over, of which Quildor was the ring leader and because of his ruthless nature, was still alive to continue his quest for power. When Archer thought of Etrusia, he thought of darkness and oppression. In his opinion, evacuate the rest of the surviving exiles, and implode the place. It would cause a global disturbance, but ultimately end this quest for dominance. Archer was sure that another war was inevitable.

"And what am I to do there exactly?" 

"Discover the climate. Get a feel for the place. No one of my inner circle has been there for several years. I had a garrison strategically posted to keep peace among the citizens who chose to stay there after the war. We haven't heard from them since their leader died."

"You sent no envoy to ascertain cause of death? Why Taan? It seems to me that would have been a priority."

"Should have been a priority, perhaps. But the realm had been taxed heavily for men during the war. There wasn't a household that didn't contribute. After the war, only a very few  remained soldiers and many of those went with Galantyne."

"You're saying the best went with Galantyne. None to spare for Etrusia."

"My people have become decadent."

Archer had feared that the aftermath of the war would bring such a condition. Taan's people had already become proud and haughty, focused on themselves and their own wants and needs rather than the good of their civilization. A life of ease had softened their defenses.

"You need a Captain, Taan. You need a warrior the people can get behind."

"A man such as yourself!"

Archer bowed his head. "A man such as you!"

Anger spurted from Taan's eyes. "I--- I have been that warrior! It is true! I have led my people. I have fought for my people, and what good has it done me? Ondrea is dead! Galantyne is gone! Kara is captured! Lynette is soft and conniving like her family and Conn is a pampered spoiled brat."

"And whose fault is that, my brother?" Archer tried to soften his criticism. "Whose fault? Who can you blame for the neglect of a son? Yourself! It's not too late, Taan! Stand up! Put on your armor, and teach your boy."

"If only Galantyne had not gone! If only Kara had been a boy! Such fire, such honor!"

Archer spat in disgust. "Instead you offer it to that mealy-mouthed weakling, Evian. He will be the death of you, my friend. Your best chance at saving the kingdom is to follow Galantyne's lead and raise an army of searchers till the Talisman is found, and the kingdom is secured by your royal blood. Raise Conn right! You can do it, Taan!"

Taan's head snapped up again. "I am old. This is true, but not so old that I cannot train my son!"

"You have your challenge, Taan, and I will fight alongside you. We live in perilous times, but we still have the advantage."

******

Crevan made it outside the fortress before slamming his fist into a wooden door. Without even pausing to rub the bloody splinters, transformed to Salimantor shape, his partial armor framing his powerful reptilian limbs. 

He slapped a palm to the tunnel wall and yelled in his mind. "Rion! Where the hell are you?"

"Don't yell, brother." Came the instant reply.

"How are you still alive?" 

"I've been in and out." 

"Did you catch who killed Doral?"

"I did."

"Why haven't you brought her out? Are you hurt?" Crevan began to slap the wall as he made his way down the hall. He told the guard at the tunnel entrance to call off the search for the murderer and let the extra teams return to their normal duties.

"It's complicated."

"How are you still inside?"

"I am not completely inside. I'm using the crystal field to cover my trajectory."

Crevan stopped walking abruptly. His mind tried to catch up to that communication. "You are outside the mountain?" He turned, not sure which way to go.

"I am currently inside the mountain." 

"Inside." 

"I told you, it's complicated." 

"Then maybe you'd like to hear my version of complicated." Crevan bit out. "Adara approached me about killing a prisoner in the fortress."

The powerful mind of his brother whipped out and seized Crevan's thoughts ascertaining the entire conversation Adara had with Crevan. 

"You will do no such thing." Rion told him levelly. "Adara's time with Quildor is coming to an end. He has something more powerful than Adara. She has fulfilled her purposes. She knows this and is scared. The prisoner could be the one Kahlest is looking for."

"Is it Kahlest you are harboring?" Crevan's mind was tortured by the image he'd seen of Rion with a winged girl.

"The Harpyiae? I told you I did not trust her! It is too coincidental that she enters our lives just as Adara reveals that a Harpyiae is held prisoner in the castle, don't you agree?"

"What the hell are we going to do then? I need to see you."

"Good, I've been wondering how to get the sea arrow antidote to you so you can heal Doral."

"Excuse me? Did you say heal Doral? What is this?"

"Keep coming! Don't stop every time you have an unfamiliar thought, brother!"

In Crevan's mind came an image of a little lotica room in one of the mid-quadrants. It took Crevan only a few minutes to arrive at his destination and find the crack in the wall that allowed him to enter the lotica room.

Rion was squatting beside a smokeless fire, upon which he'd spit several mounchicks. Broken crystal shards protruded from the sandy ground and a hammock had been strung between them. Here lay the searcher girl. At her head, several more broken crystal shards had been thrust into the ground. Rion was manipulating the crystal's natural properties.

The girl, naked, covered in lotica leaves stirred in unconscious pain. Her clothing had been laid out as if washed and waiting to dry, alongside the smokeless fire another spit was curing.

"What are you tanning?" Crevan blurted in astonsihment.

Rion waved him over to the small fire pit, and reached out to embrace him, a thing that was almost unheard of. Crevan stiffened as his brother's arms came about him, and he clasped him to his rock hard chest.

"I am tanning hides to replace the young searcher's foot coverings. Hers were worn through. I suppose even Galantyne's sister is on tight rations if she is cared for this poorly."

Crevan reeled back. "She is Galantyne's sister? How do you know this?"

"He told me."

Crevan felt the blood rising to his face, "You will explain this to me?"

Rion pulled a piece of sizzling meat off the bones and blew on it, handing it up to his brother. "Sit down, Crev."

"I'd rather take this standing, thankyou."

"I said sit down." Feeling the power struggle, and knowing he was losing, Crevan sat down on the far side of the hammock, away from the girl.

Rion relaxed on his haunches, handed his brother the first bite of meat and when he took it, seemed relieved. "It's simple really." He avoided his brother's eyes a moment longer as if deciding what to say. "I confronted her in a lotica room and Galantyne himself melded into the same room, presumably at her call for help, although I don't know that. He commanded her to flee, and engaged me in a sword fight, during which time she disappeared through the rock and two other warriors came. I knew when I was outnumbered and would have retreated, but Galantyne gave me a message for Quildor, to meet him today. A message, by the way, I have not delivered. I don't like being ordered around, even by the crown prince himself!" They both smirked. "I honed in on the girl's frequency again, and found her in a cavern full of Shadow Eaters..."

Crevan's face was void of color. "I saw you, rescuing her, a Harpyiae."

"Yes. How did you take that image out of my mind, Rion? What kind of Zalez is that?"

Rion started. "Zalez is progressive, Crevan. It has to be. I am simply gaining experience from using the crystal connection to speak in her mind." He nodded toward Kara.

Crevan frowned. "You use the crystal frequencies to talk to her, not just track her? Is this the source of our Zalez, then?"

"I tracked her using the crystal frequencies. Then she responded to me using the same."

Crevan's eyes widened and he tossed his bones. "It's the girl then." He said abruptly. "And you saved her because she is Galantyne's sister? Which makes her Taan's daughter. If she is Taan's daughter, then who do we have up there?" He jerked his head toward the fortress.

Rion shrugged. "Another daughter?" He gave his brother a look meant to convey his own confusion. 

"What is he like-- Galantyne?" Crevan wanted to know, and he plunged a sharp stick in the sand with a vengeance, sorry that he'd missed this action.

"His arms were bare, huge, and he wore blue armor, loaded with gear."

"Like the searcher men?"

"Not as form fitting, more like our armor." Rion doused the fire after setting the broth aside for Kara. Crevan watched him as the steam from it rose to the low ceiling. His eyes rose as well. He hadn't personally cooked or had a fire inside the mountain, and knew of only a few who risked it. 

"And his helmet was formidable. He's a big warrior, Crevan, big as you."

Kara moaned, and they both held their breath. Rion went to her side and took her hand. "She has a fever." He whispered, but in the stillness, his voice sounded strange even to him. Crevan's eyes remained trained on his brother. They narrowed in realization.

"Why are you healing her?" 

Rion placed a hand against her forehead and sent a wave of reassurance into her mind. He felt the fever there and sent more mental energy blocking the pain. 

Crevan watched all this in fascination. "What exactly are you doing?" 

Rion took his hand off her hot forehead and turned to his brother with a sheepish grin. He shrugged in apparent embarrassment. Crevan waited. 

Finally, when Rion wouldn't look up, Crevan laughed. "Really? You don't know?"

Rion's brows shot upward. "Healing. She is a valuable prisoner."

Crevan threw back his head and laughed. "Valuable to whom? Quildor? Of course, since he already has one daughter of Taan, and knows of no other." He flung out an arm expansively. "She is dangerous to you brother. She will steal your soul."

"No searcher girl has ever stolen the soul of a Foeman." Rion muttered, busying himself at the fire. Crevan noticed a wad of wet rag-like articles hanging on a stick near the water. Rion removed one and dipped it, then wrung it out and began to bathe the girl's forehead. 

"Ah, that's where you are wrong. There have been others. What of Draggar?" Crevan's eyebrows rose in suggestion.

"Excuse me?" 

Crevan's smile remained unconcerned. "You are shocked I say his name?"

"I have no prejudice against him, Crevan, you know that."

"Then you understand why I am the perfect person to warn you about a searcher girl infatuation." 

Rion felt his ire transform into annoyance. "This girl is a hostage." 

"Please." Crevan scoffed. "Don't you know I went through this with Draggar? I saw the way he made excuses for keeping her safe. I saw the infatuation, and where it got him."

"That was one instance, Crevan." Rion began to pack the accouterments of his camp into his belt pack in sharp, jerky motions. He knew all about Crevan's older brother, the previous Captain of the Quarso. He knew about the little searcher girl Draggar had fallen in love with-- Elin, was her name. He'd never met her, he was too young when it all happened. The girl had been well trained, and Draggar had stalked her for months, honing in on her frequency. He captured her, but did not put her in Auditorium.

Crevan shrugged. "Nevertheless, it has happened, and it was a disaster."

They both eyed Kara as a fleeting glance of pain washed across her face. Crevan witnessed the vague concentration exhibited by Rion as he used his Zalez to calm her again. "I am healing her, Crevan. I am not falling in love with her."

"You are projecting into her Zalez? And she is obviously receptive. That's an interesting complication. To what purpose?" Crevan mocked. "To give her back to Galantyne? Perhaps to establish trade relations with him?"

Anger coursed through Rion in ever quickening waves. The truth was, he didn't know for sure what lay behind his desire to heal Kara. Every time he tried to explain it to himself he simply felt his reasons were excuses. Perhaps that was true. But falling in love was not one of his reasons. She was still his enemy.

"It's your life brother. You know I have your back."

"Even against our esteemed master?"

Crevan's eyes narrowed. "That decision was already made. I stand by it, Rion, you know that."

They were both thinking of Kahlest, and then of the lies they'd told Adara and Quildor.

"Someday when this is over, we can sit around a fire and ask ourselves how it all came about, and at what point we became our own men and not Quildor's Minions." Rion said with distaste. 

Crevan nodded. "To what purpose, I ask you, brother. I ask you now, not someday sitting around a campfire. To what purpose?"

Rion stared his brother directly in the eye. "We have decided to become our own men."

*********